Two weeks ago there were 240 teens at our local middle school on a mission trip. They had worship each evening and several from our church worshipped with them. I went every night. On their last evening, the preacher talked about their week and the life changing experiences they had and the way they had grown closer to Jesus. And then, knowing they were going home the next day, back to reality, back to peer pressure, back to summer jobs, and back to their ordinary lives, he asked, “How do you keep this going?” How do you keep finding Jesus in your moments? How do you not let yourself go back into old habits of not praying, not reading your Bible, and not seeking Jesus. It’s a good question.

I knew I wasn’t going to have any trouble. While the nightly worship in the school was like a week-long revival for me, in three days I was going on my own mission trip with nine others. Yet now our week is over. And now the question pertains to me: “How do you keep this going?”

We don’t spend the majority of our lives on mission trips or going to revivals. Today I will go to the funeral home and grieve with and be there for the family of a church member who passed away over the weekend. Tonight we will have a church trustee meeting and administrative board meeting and a leak in the roof will come up. Tomorrow I will preach the funeral and tomorrow night will be our Wednesday night dinner and devotion at the church. Adam, Diane C, Hannah, Joy, JoLynn, and Michael will all be back to work today. Bev and Everett will be babysitting the grandkids, and Diane K will be trying to figure out why she got a letter saying her financial aid paperwork for Potomac State is not complete. She’ll also start baking for the Wednesday night dinner.

And the question for them, for me, and for you is, “Can we draw closer to Jesus in the everyday?” Can we see Him when we go to our jobs? Can we hear him in the menial everyday tasks? Can we find him at a church board meeting? For some of us coming off a mission trip or life changing event, our effort will be to keep our relationship with Him growing. For others of us, it must be a return to Him – a re-focusing on Him – remembering that He is always willing to reach us and transform us, even in the everyday.

“Jesus, I thank you for the times I see You and feel Your presence. I pray that in the times I feel distant, that You would remind me that You are not distant, but are truly always near. I pray you would help me find You in today, whatever this day holds for me. I pray this for Your glory, and in Your precious Name. Amen.”